BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"

When President
Obama asked you to tell us what the middle-class tax cuts meant for your
families, we knew you'd speak up. But I don't think any of us were
prepared for this.

The stories started pouring in immediately.
Within a couple hours, we received messages from tens of thousands of
people. Folks from every state in the country took time to write in. You
nearly took over Twitter, where the hashtag #My2K trended all day.

And people are starting to pay attention. News outlets are writing
stories about how everyday Americans are engaged in this debate.
Decision makers are coming to the sudden realization that they can't
ignore the perspective of the middle class when it comes to cutting
taxes.

You're changing an entire policy conversation. And we have to keep it up.

We heard from a woman in Alabama who explained that $2,000 was a
crucial part of her family budget -- the choice between two house
payments, three car payments, or medical prescriptions for a year.

We heard from a farmer in Michigan, just starting his business, who
wants to use $2,000 to invest in two greenhouses so he can extend his
growing season.

We heard from a dad in Indiana who did the math and realized that $2,000 will buy groceries for his family for 23.5 weeks.

We heard from graduate students working to pay down student loans and parents trying to help put their kids through school.

And these folks are not alone. Unless Congress acts, 114 million
middle-class American families are staring down a tax increase starting
January 1.

So we need you to join them. We're doing everything
to draw attention to the stories you share with us. We're sharing them
on Facebook and Twitter. We're putting them on the front page of the
White House website.

HERE is the latest on the divestment from dirty energy campaign by 360.org and some words of wisdom....

"The dominant culture — civilization — is killing the planet, and it
is long past time for those of us who care about life on earth to begin
taking the actions necessary to stop this culture from destroying every
living thing.” - Derrick Jensenfrom Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet

Greetings from the Do The Math tour bus!
We’re bouncing up the road to Madison, WI right now after another sold-out show in Chicago last night.
As you might already know, one of the goals of this tour is to launch
a new fossil fuel divestment campaign at colleges and universities
across the country -- it's a critical way to fight back against
corporate polluters.Here’s how you can help:If you’re a current student, please click here to join or start a campaign on your campus on our brand new website: gofossilfree.orgIf you’re an alumnus/alumna, please click here to tell us where you went to school and join the national campaign. We’ll be in touch soon about how you can connect with and support students at your alma mater.And if you're not a student or an alum, don't worry -- there will be lots for everyone to do in the weeks ahead. Why divestment? Well, we know that fossil fuel
companies are principally concerned about two things: their bottom line
and their public image. A nationwide movement forcing our schools to
divest from fossil fuels will deal a serious blow to both.Over 100 campuses have already joined the divestment campaign, and it’s generating real excitement everywhere we go.
From big schools like the University of Wisconsin to small colleges
like Middlebury, the campaign is picking up speed (at Harvard, a student
resolution supporting divestment just passed with 72% of the vote!).
Now, it’s absolutely crucial that we keep the momentum going -- click here to get involved: www.gofossilfree.org
Many, many thanks,
Bill
P.S. You can also follow along with the divestment work on our brand-new Fossil Free Facebook and Twitter accounts.

29 November 2012

JUST like the walmart workers who have been striking for better wages and benefits so too are workers at fast food chains in NYC, demanding a working wage and decent benefits. This is a call to action to support these workers not only because it is the right, the moral thing to do. All these corporations are increasing their huge profits at our expense because the workers they keep in poverty receive various forms of government assistance to survive. I do not resent any of these people receiving food stamps, medical care, housing vouchers and other government aid. I DO resent the fast food corporate boards and ceos taking obscene wages while refusing to pay their employees a living wage and providing benefits. This is just another form of corporate welfare. EVERY TIME YOU GO TO ONE OF THESE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS YOU ARE SUBSIDIZING THE CORPORATE EXECUTIVES LAVISH LIFESTYLE AND INCREASING YOUR FEDERAL TAX BURDEN. This from SumOfUs......

McDonald's wages are so low, some of its workers live in homeless shelters.
Workers like Chyna Scott.Fast food workers, including Chyna, are fighting for a living wage. Sign here to support them.

Just days after Walmart workers made history with their Black Friday strike, hundreds of workers at McDonald's, Burger King, and other fast food chains have walked off the job in New York City, demanding a living wage and union representation.Like the Walmart workers who went on strike last week, fast food workers in New York are risking everything to
challenge a system that keeps millions in poverty so a few massive
corporations can make huge profits. If this strike shows that low-wage
workers can fight back and win, it would be a huge step towards creating
a more just economy -- and they need all the support they can get.Click here to sign our petition demanding a living wage for fast food workers.
This strike could change the lives of thousands of workers -- workers like Chyna Scott, who works at a McDonald’s in the Bronx. Chyna makes $7.25 an hour, and hasn’t been able to find an apartment she can afford, so for the last year, she and her three-year-old daughter, Jakiya, have been living in a homeless shelter.
There are 50,000 fast food workers in New York City, making as little as $11,000 a year. And these aren’t just teenagers looking for a little spare cash: The typical fast food worker is 28 years old, and many of them have children of their own.
Fast food workers are so underpaid that many rely on food stamps,
Medicaid, housing vouchers, and other forms of public assistance to make
ends meet. That means that, like Walmart, fast food giants like
McDonald's and Burger King are costing taxpayers millions every year.
These workers aren’t just taking on one company -- they’re trying to change a whole industry.
Right now, workers are striking at Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco
Bell, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and McDonald's. Thirty stores have been shut
down, and organizers are expecting more to follow suit.
If these workers are going to change the fast food industry, they need all the help they can get, and that’s where the SumOfUs.org community comes in. If enough of us raise our voices in support of these workers, all
these fast food chains will know that mistreating workers could hurt
their bottom lines. And more workers will be likely to join the strike
if they know their customers are standing with them.Click here to sign our petition in support of New York fast food workers.
Thank you,
Taren, Rob, and the team at SumOfUs

HERE is a great sermon from Rev Nadia Bolz-Weber. One thing I have always had contempt for is the attitude of Christian zionist and their support of the nation of Israel no matter what they do because they do not support Israel as God's chosen people, no, instead they support Israel and push for international recognition of Jerusalem as it's capital because they want the Jewish Temple rebuilt to hasten the return of Jesus Christ. The Triune God I believe in (was raised to believe in) doesn't need our help in this matter, he alone knows when Christ will return. Tolerating Israeli repression of and restriction on Christianity in Israel does not serve the Christian church well. Turning a blind eye to the transgressions of the children of Abraham against one another, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, does not honor or please God. In this sermon we are reminded of the love, sacrifice, salvation from and by God, Jesus, and that our dependence on earthly structures and our actions to justify our faith is misguided. Enjoy...

Entrance to the Abraham Mosque in Hebron

11-18-2012 NBW HFASS Sermon<——Click here to listen along
I
recently read that there is literally a psychological disorder called
“Jerusalem syndrome” in which people returning from visiting the Holy
Land exhibit irrational and obsessive religious fervor.
And as
many of you know, I’ve just returned from 2 weeks in the Land called
Holy and so I just wanted to assure you – I do not have Jerusalem
Syndrome. If anything I have whatever the opposite of that would be.
While
I loved so much of what I experienced, tonight I want to tell you about
what I did not love. I did not love visiting the Abraham Mosque
otherwise known as the tomb of the Patriarchs otherwise known as that
piece of ground in Hebron referred to in Genesis as the land Abraham
bought and where he, Sarah, Leah, Rebecca and Jacob are all buried.
To
visit this particular holy site, if you can get through the Israeli
checkpoints and metal detectors and soldiers with AK-47s you will enter a
building with 6-foot-thick walls made from stones that are at least
3 feet tall and sometimes reach a length of 24 feet.
Those huge
walls around the tomb of Abraham, Sarah and the other ancestors of the
Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths were put in place a few decades
before the birth of Christ by the Jewish ruler Herod the Great (although
let’s be honest…most likely they were built by slaves under Herod’s
rule) Then when the Byzantine empire ruled the area they built a Christian Basilica on the site. Then that was destroyed by the Persian empire and they built a Mosque on the site. Then when the Christian Crusaders conquered the land, they
built a Crusader church on the site and then forbid the Muslims to
enter. Then years later the Muslims conquered again they made the
Crusader church back into a Mosque and then forbid the Jews from
entering. And now, today, the largely Jewish state of Israel has this
so-called holy site surrounded by soldiers holding AK 47s.
So I
found it hard not to be cynical about that place. About how it is such a
symbol of the worst of humanity and religion. And it all made me wonder
in what do we place our hope?
Do we try and claim God as our own
and nervously fix in time and space the symbols of God’s faithfulness.
And when we do that, does it just seems like more of an act of our own
faithlessness than anything else? As though If we encounter God in one
place we have to ensure that that place is protected because, well, what
if God doesn’t show up again? Do we perhaps end up placing more hope
and trust in a place or an institution than in God?
To be honest,
at times I’ve felt that with this very congregation. House for All is
so beautiful and I sense God at work in and among us and so I find
myself wanting to protect it, build walls of large stones around it,
defend it from outsiders. But God just doesn’t seem to give a flip about
our little efforts to domesticate God to our own agendas.
Here’s
why I mention this: those outrageously large stones I described at the
beginning? The one’s Herod built? Same stones as the ones Herod used
to make up the temple Jesus and his disciples were talking about in our
Gospel text for today. There is still one section of that temple wall
from Jesus’ day that stands today. You might have heard it referred to
as the wailing wall. And indeed there is much to wail about. The last
few days have seen such violence in the land called Holy. There is war
there…or maybe just rumors of war. But given all of this let’s listen
again to today’s reading

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”5Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For
nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there
will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.

Jesus could have been talking about November 2012.
Jesus
looks at his disciples and knowing how impressed they are with the
permanence and hope of the temple he takes a stick pin to the bubble
they are living in and he pops it. He’s just kind of like that
sometimes, isn’t he?
So this week I started to wonder what my own
bubble might be…what large stones am I so reliant upon still standing
in my own life? What do I treat as eternal that is not? What must stand
in order for me to still place my hope in God… maybe the health and
safety of my family or the longevity of my denomination, or the economy,
or the fact that I can walk down the road without fear of missile
attacks.
As his disciples gaze upon the temporary thing in which
they place their hope, Jesus doesn’t say that having a temple is wrong,
he totally hung out there, He just said that the temple still standing
is not the ultimate sign that God is faithful. There’s nothing wrong
with wanting my family to be healthy or for this congregation to thrive
or my denomination to still be around or to be safe on my own streets.
But these things are not eternal. These things cannot love me me the way
God can love me.
Jesus was right of course…the temple his disciples were so impressed with actually was
destroyed in 70 ad but it wasn’t God who destroyed it. It was Rome.
And Jesus was right there will be wars and rumors of wars. There will
be destruction, false prophets, and famine, there will be the Left
Behind series of books, and The decline and fall of the Hostess
cupcake. All of this will happen Jesus says and very little of this
will have any thing to do with God.
Because God doesn’t cause it.
God just bears it. God bears all of our sin and our suffering. That’s
what the cross was about: A God who became flesh and took all of our
violence and hatred and all of our wall building sins into his very own
body. The flesh of God made flesh bore all of it on the cross so that
it’s finished. There is nothing to be had through the walls and
violence and we are so addicted to because God upturned our systems of
violence and power-over as a blameless victim taking it all into God’s
crucified body. So that God no longer meets us in the big shiny temple
of a ruling political or religious power but in that very body of
Christ. In all ways of speaking of the body of Christ…in Jesus’ own
flesh, in the Eucharist and in the church. This is a servant God who
disarms the violence of humanity and offers God’s own blessings and
grace in exchange. The death and resurrection of Jesus is nothing less
than the everlasting and irrevocable yes of God. Jesus in this text is
saying to his disciples that the temple in which they place their hope
will be torn down … but that doesn’t mean hope itself will be torn down
because Jesus is the new temple and we tried to do it him too but he
rose again, and with him, our hope. It is God and not symbols of God
that lives. And it is God and not institutions related to God that lives
and it is God and not places where we experience God that lives.
So, as the writer of Hebrews said, Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
And he who has promised is faithful in a way that walls and empire and
efforts to domesticate God and placing our trust in ourselves can never
be. So that finally there is only one thing worthy of our trust and that
will never be torn down and it is simply not a wall or empire we might
build to protect us and it is certainly not a tradition or place
associated with Abraham. But brothers and sisters it is the God of Abraham.http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2012/11/sermon-on-walls-and-hope-and-the-abraham-mosque/

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36Jesus
answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from
this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed
over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37Pilate
asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a
king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice.” – John 1811-25-2012 NBW Sermon <—–click here to listen along, so much of the meaning comes through in how sermons are spoken aloud.

I
know this is a little weird but I spent a lot of this week wondering
what Thanksgiving dinner at Pontius Pilate’s mom’s house would be like. I
mean, Pilate was a fairly powerful guy being the Roman governor over
Judea and all. He was a big fish in a small pond as we say and he acted
like a big deal in front of Jesus, but I started thinking about what
he’d act like at his mom’s house at Thanksgiving. Would he be relegated
to the kid’s table in the kitchen, in a chair too small for his status
in the world? Would he irritate his siblings by starting all his
sentences with “well, as the Governor….” would he stay as briefly as
possible waiting until he could get away to his friend’s house to drink
beer and watch the game? How would Pilate’s identity change in the
context of his family of origin? Now of course that’s a thoroughly
modern and mostly American question, but, I’d argue, it’s still ours to
ask.
The point being, that identity comes from a sense of belonging.
See, we all have to know where we belong in order to know who we are.
And
if there were a time of year that we are faced with this it’s
definitely during The Holidays – capital T capital H….a time when issues
of belonging and identity and family come up for so many of us.
Like,
maybe you still feel obliged to spend holidays with your family because
you are supposed to belong with them but belonging is never what you
feel because your family can’t love you well the way your friends can
and it’s painful to realize that.
Or maybe you lost your parents
too soon and you quietly fume this time of year when your friends
complain about not belonging with their family because their mom is a
chain-smoking neat freak and their dad watches too much football
because, well, you’d do anything to have one more Thanksgiving with your
parents despite their shortcomings.
Or maybe you are the parent
of a young adult who has decided they don’t belong to you and with you
in the way you wish they still did.
Regardless, the reason I
started thinking about belonging and identity this week as we entered
The Holidays is that in our Gospel reading Jesus says this weird thing
to Pilate…he says his kingdom is not of this world and that those who
belong to the truth listen to his voice.
I just don’t hear that
phrase being used all that often: belonging to the truth. Our
relationship to truth usually doesn’t take that form.
Usually our relationship to the truth often takes 2 pretty problematic forms.
On
the one hand we live in an age when all truth is subjective – meaning
truth is whatever you think it is or whatever works for you in the
moment. We are all makers of meaning and captains of determination and
agents of truth. Everything is so relative that the word truth is now
entirely bled of any real meaning. Since everyone has their own truth
like they have their own fingerprints.
And I’m no philosopher and
so am treading in some perilous territory for a theologian, but I wonder
if the other side of total relativity is basically fundamentalism.
Where truth is not only knowable, but is clear and simple and I can
possess it. I can own the truth… and in no way does my own social
location, personality or place in history effect This.
Yet in our
text for today Jesus doesn’t say that truth is relative nor does he
imply that truth is something we can posses.….Jesus says hiskingdom is
not of this world and those who belong to the truth listen to his voice.
So
once again Jesus goes and threatens our identity and autonomy by
messing with the categories we are so comfortable using. For truth is
finally not something we can possess and it’s not some flimsy idea
narrated by personal preference, nor is truth simply the most legitimate
idea, concept or doctrine. Truth isn’t something that belongs to you.
Truth is something you belong to … or more accurately someone you
belong to. What is revealed in the Gospel of John is that finally Truth
is a person … the way the truth the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
And
you don’t have to hang out with Jesus for very long before you realize
that, like with Pilate, he never seems to be having the same
conversation as you are. We may want to know the truth, understand the
truth, possess the truth but then Jesus says that he is the truth. Which
makes me want to ask him if we could just go back to truth being an
idea instead of a person because then I know what to do with that. But
Jesus just never listens to me so instead we are left with truth being a
person and with us belonging to the truth which means we belong to
Jesus.
But we belong to Jesus and to his kingdom in a different
way than we belong to our family or our church or our gym. Because our
belongingness to the truth is not contingent on time or location or
human limitation. And every other kind of belonging is “of this world”
every other kind of belonging both good and bad is contingent on time
and location and the limits of humanity.
Which is why Jesus said
to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. It’s not that he is
King of some heavenly realm in the after life. Like a big decadent
post-death dessert buffet waiting for all those who have endured the
suffering of good Christian diet foods their whole life. His reign is
here, his kingship is here and his kingdom is here. It’s right here.
Not in some other far off other place. The Kingdom of God shares space
with the kingdoms of this world. The kingdom of God shares space with
the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdoms of Microsoft and Kmart and
KLOVE radio ….Christ’s kingdom shares space with these other kingdoms
…it just doesn’t share categories with these other kingdoms. Being
citizens of the Kingdom of God means belonging to a truth. It allows us
to construct identity for ourselves and for the whole world based on
something other than practical concerns and families of origin and
political categories. If we have been moved by the Spirit to call this
Jesus the King of the Jews, then we will find in him the freedom to
base our identities on Him and not on the typical categories of nuclear families or empire, or late-stage capitalism.
So
Jesus says to Pilate that the Kingdom of God is not of this world, and
that those who belong to the truth listen to his voice.
And 2,000
years later here you are. Listening to Jesus’ voice in Psalm and song
and sermon and liturgy all of which tells you of the truth to which you
belong. And this is hard for us Americans who are raised in a context
of self-determination and Western individualism and Mastercards to wrap
our brains around,…but what this all means is that you did not choose to
follow Christ. Just like you did not choose your family. But
unlike your family, your identity in God is simply unaffected by the
limitations of human beings to love each other well, and unlike your
family, your identity in God is simply unaffected by people who can actually love you well, but who then go and die on you.
Your
belongingness to the Truth is determined by a God who has called you
out of the darkness into light. Your belongingness to the truth, to the
person of Jesus Christ is simply not determined by family of origin or
economic status or friend groups. It is not determined by religiosity,
moral purity or political category. Your belongingness to the truth is
determined by the voice of the Christ who calls you by name in the
mystery of the Eucharist and in the clumsiness of community and in every
stranger who bears Christ’s face. And I’ve said it before but it bears
repeating: nothing else actually gets to tell you who you are. AMEN.http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2012/11/sermon-on-thanksgiving-at-pontius-pilates-moms-house-and-where-we-belong/

THE vote on the NDAA ( see my earlier post at NDAA Vote This Week: Tell Senate to end indefinite detention 28NOV12 ) will probably happen today and there is an amendment on indefinite detention that must be included. If you haven't contacted your Senators demanding they support amendments eliminating indefinite detention please do so now using the links below....
We just heard from a Senate ally who told us that there's probably a vote TOMORROW (that's Thursday). Sorry to bombard you with emails tonight, but there's extraordinary urgency now.
Will you help us create a social media tsunami in opposition to indefinite detention? We built out two social media tools to help us win this fight:

The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act allowed the United States
military to detain civilians indefinitely and without charge or trial
-- even American citizens.
The Senate is taking up the 2013 NDAA this week. Several senators
are poised to put forth amendments to revoke or narrow the indefinite
detention powers that we've been fighting so hard over the last year.Moments ago The Huffington Post reported on the amendment that's being offered by a bipartisan group of 11 senators:

"Declaring that a provision of the National
Defense Authorization Act of 2012 put the country on a path to repeat
the shame of World War II's internment camps, they argued the offending
language should be stricken in this year's defense bill."

We need to get the backs of these courageous senators.Please use our social media tools to help spread word about indefinite detention and pressure the Senate to reverse it:

PRESIDENT OBAMA is calling on all Americans to e mail or tweet or call their Representative and Senators in Congress and demand the middle class tax cuts be extended and the tax cuts for the rich and corporations end. As the President has said, 98% of individuals and 97% of small businesses will not see a tax increase if the middle class tax cut is extended, and no American's taxes will go up on the first $250,000 of income. DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT, so it is vital that everyone contact your Representative http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/and your Senators http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfmor tweet at hashtag my2k and express your views on extending the middle class tax cuts and ending the tax cuts for the wealthy. Here is the transcript of President Obama's remarks on this issue on 28NOV12, followed by statements by Patriotic Millionaires and top fiscal policy wonks on eliminating the tax cuts for the rich.Here is a transcript of President Obama’s remarks on middle-class tax cuts delivered on Nov. 28, 2012.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It would be good for
our children’s future, and I believe that both parties can agree on a
framework that does that in the coming weeks. In fact, my hope is to get
this done before Christmas. But the place where we already have, in
theory at least, complete agreement, right now, is on middle class
taxes. And as I’ve said before, we’ve got two choices.
If
Congress does nothing, every family in America will see their taxes
automatically go up at the beginning of next year. Starting January 1st,
every family in America will see their taxes go up.
OBAMA: A
typical middle-class family of four would see its income taxes go up by
$2,200, that’s $2,200 out of people’s pockets. That means less money for
buying groceries, less money for filling prescriptions, less money for
buying diapers.
(LAUGHTER)
It means a tougher choice
between paying the rent and paying tuition, and middle-class families
just can’t afford that right now. By the way, businesses can’t afford it
either.
Yesterday I sat down with some small business owners who
stressed this point. Economists predict that if taxes go up on middle
class next year, consumers will spend nearly $200 billion less on things
like cars, and clothes, and furniture, and that obviously means fewer
customers, that cuts into business profits, that makes businesses less
likely to invest, and hire which means fewer jobs and that can drag our
entire economy down.
Now, the good news is, there’s a better
option. Right now, as we speak, Congress can pass a law that would
prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody’s income.
Everybody’s. And that means that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent
of small businesses wouldn’t see their income taxes go up by a single
dime. Ninety-eight percent of Americans, 97 percent of small businesses
would not see their income taxes go up by a single dime.
Even the
wealthiest Americans would still get a tax cut on the first $250,000 of
their income. So it’s not like folks who make more than $250,000 aren’t
getting a tax break, too. They are getting a tax break on the first
$250,000 just like everybody else. Families and small businesses would,
therefore, be able to enjoy some peace of mind heading into Christmas
and heading into the new year.
And it would give us more time
than next year to work together on a comprehensive plan to bring down
our deficits, to streamline our tax system, to do it in a balanced way,
including asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more so we can
invest in training, education, science, and research.
Now, I
know some of this may sound familiar to you because we talked a lot
about this during the campaign. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.
This was a major debate in the presidential campaign, and in
Congressional campaigns all across the country, and a clear majority of
Americans, not just Democrats, but also a lot of Republicans, and a lot
of independents, agreed we should have a balanced approach to deficit
reduction that doesn’t hurt the economy and doesn’t hurt middle-class
families.
And I’m glad to see, if you’ve been reading the papers
lately, that more and more Republicans in Congress seem to be agreeing
with this idea that we should have a balanced approach.
So if
both parties agree we should not raise taxes on middle- class families,
let’s begin our work with where we agree. The Senate’s already passed a
bill that keeps income taxes from going up on middle-class families.
Democrats in the House are ready to vote for that same bill today. And,
if we can get a few house Republicans to agree as well, I’ll sign this
bill as soon as Congress sends it my way. I’ve got to repeat, I’ve got a
pen, I’m ready to sign it.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
So
-- so my point here today is to say, let’s approach this problem with
the middle class in mind, the folks who are behind me, and the millions
of people all across the country who they represent.
You know,
the American people are watching what we do. Middle- class families,
folks working hard to get into the middle class, they are watching what
we do right now. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, when the
American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold, Congress listens.
You
know, some of you may remember that a year ago, during our last big
fight to protect middle-class families, tens of thousands of working
Americans called and Tweeted and e-mailed their representatives asking
them to do the right thing. And sure enough, it worked. The same thing
happened earlier this year when college students across the country
stood up and demanded that Congress keep rates low on their student
loans. Congress got the message loud and clear and they made sure that
interest rates on student loans did not go up.
So the lesson is
that when enough people get involved, we have a pretty good track record
of actually making Congress work. And that’s important because this is
our biggest challenge yet, and it’s one that we can only meet together.
So
in the interest of making sure that everybody makes their voices heard,
last week we asked people to tell us what would a $2,000 tax hike mean
to them. Some families told us, it would make it more difficult to send
their kids to college. Others said it would make it tougher for them to
cover the cost of prescription drugs. Some said it would make it tough
for them to make their mortgage.
Lynn Lion (ph) from Newport News
-- where’s Lynn, there she is -- she just wants to see some cooperation
in Washington. She wrote, “Let’s show the rest of the world that we’re
adults, and living in a democracy we can solve our problems by working
together.” So that’s what this debate’s all about and that’s why it’s so
important, that as many Americans as possible send a message that we
need to keep moving forward. So today I’m asking Congress to listen to
the people who sent us here to serve. I’m asking Americans all across
the country to make your voice heard. Tell members of Congress what a
$2,000 tax hike would mean to you. Call your members of Congress. Write
them an e- mail. Post it on their Facebook walls. You can Tweet it by
using the hashtag “my2k”. Not y2k.
(LAUGHTER)
“my2k,” we
figured that would make it easy to remember. And, I want to assure the
American people I’m doing my part. I’m sitting down with CEOs, I’m
sitting down with labor leaders, I’m talking to leaders in Congress. You
know, I -- I am ready, and able, and willing, and excited to go ahead
and get this issue resolved in a bipartisan fashion so that American
families, American businesses have some certainty going into next year,
and we can do it in a balanced and fair way, but our first job is to
make sure that taxes on middle- class families don’t go up, and since we
all theoretically agree on that we should get that done.
(APPLAUSE)
If we get that done, a lot of the other stuff is gonna be a lot easier.
So
in light of just sort of spreading this message, I’m going to be
visiting Pennsylvania on Friday to talk with folks at a small business
there that are trying to make sure that they’re filling their Christmas
orders. And I’ll go anywhere, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get this
done. It’s too important for Washington to screw this up.
Now’s
the time for us to work on what we all agreed to, which is let’s keep
middle class taxes low. That’s what our economy needs, that’s what the
American people deserve, and if we get this part of it right, then a lot
of the other issues surrounding deficit reduction in a fair and
balanced and responsible way are going to be a whole lot easier, and if
we get this wrong, the economy is going to go south, it’s going to be
much more difficult to balance our budgets and deal with our deficits
because if the economy is not strong, that means more money is going out
on things like unemployment insurance, and less money is coming in in
terms of tax receipts, and it actually just makes our deficit worse.
So
we really need to get this right. I can only do it with the help of the
American people, so tweet -- what was that again? My2k -- tweet using
the hashtag my2k or email, post it on a member of Congress’ Facebook
wall, do what it takes to communicate a sense of urgency. We don’t have a
lot of time here. We’ve got a few weeks to get this thing done.
We could get it done tomorrow. Now, optimistically, I don’t think we’re going to get it done tomorrow.
(LAUGHTER)
But
I tell you, if everybody here goes out of their way to make their
voices heard and spread the word to your friends and your family, your
coworkers, your neighbors, then I am confident that we will get it done,
and we will put America on the right track, not just for next year, but
for many years to come.
Alright? Thank you very much everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
ENDhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-middle-class-tax-cuts-on-nov-28-2012-transcript/2012/11/28/f3b347b6-3979-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_print.html

DOMINATE FISCAL CLIFF DEBATE

The Patriotic Millionaires and Top Wonks
are dominating the fiscal debate following the election. The Agenda
Project is delighted to be amplifying the voices of top experts and
wealthy Americans who are putting the needs of regular Americans at the
front of this critical public policy debate - which is exactly where
they should be.

Patriotic Millionaire and Filmmaker Abigail Disney (NY) pushes for higher taxes on wealthy Americans as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.Abigail Disney says:“…Small
provisions – letting these tax cuts lapse just for the 2%, getting
capital gains taxes back to where they were under the Clinton
Administration, and taxing dividends like ordinary incomes…Those things
will get us to almost a trillion dollars over ten years...I can’t
imagine how anybody can look at this situation we’re in…If my life is
not going to be materially affected in a bad way by a tax increase, why
would I object?"

Top Wonk and President and Founder of Kynikos AssociatesJim Chanos (NY) explains how to dodge the fiscal cliff on Bloomberg’s "Street Smart Fiscal Cliff Summit." Jim Chanos says:“[The
Fiscal Cliff] is not an asteroid…it is something of our own making.
This is something we did, we can undo it… No deal is better than a bad
deal. We are still the greatest country in the world…We can print money
to pay our debt and we are the world's reserve currency.”

Patriotic Millionaire and Managing Partner of InterMedia Partners Leo Hindery (NY) juxtaposes progressive and conservative views on the fiscal cliff on Bloomberg TV.Leo Hindery says:"The
fiscal cliff is highly nuanced, trading back and forth, my philosophy
verses yours...There is what is called cutters and growers. In the
past, the progressives, of which I am one, have been too much about the
spending side, spending for growth. And the cutters, the
conservatives, have been too much weighed towards just slashing for
slashing's sake. It’s going to take a confluence. There
are three or four great things you could do that wouldn’t add to the
deficit that would create jobs. [For example the] infrastructure bank,
the manufacturing renaissance, some tax reform that would incite that
manufacturing renaissance..."

Top Wonk and Former Chief Economist of the IMF Simon Johnson(MA) tackles historic and contemporary deficit crises in his recent book White House Burning and briefs PBS on the fiscal cliff. Simon Johnson says:“Watch
out for the coming hysteria on the so-called 'fiscal cliff.' In the
post-election commentary, you will hear numerous voices – definitely on
the right but also on the left – arguing that we could not possibly
increase taxes this year or next, as this will push our economy back
into recession. Do not believe them – this is just the latest
disinformation put out by people who agree with Grover Norquist that the
real goal of politics should always and everywhere be to reduce taxes
and shrink the size of government. It is exactly such policies that
have brought us to our current economic predicament.”

Patriotic Millionaire and Angel Investor Ron Garret (CA) explains the intersection between higher taxation and growth on Fox Business' After The Bell.Ron Garret says:“There
is this myth that raising taxes on rich people is a jobs killer. It is
simply not true. If you go and look at the historical data, the
periods where the United States has been at its most prosperous, has
almost exactly coincided with periods when the top marginal tax rates
have been the highest.”

Top Wonk and Economic Policy Institute Economist Heidi Shierholz(DC) stresses the need to extend unemployment insurance before the start of the fiscal slope on January 1st in her extensive new report. Heidi Shierholz says:“Federally
funded extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are set to expire
at the end of this year. These benefits serve two very useful public
purposes. Most obviously, they provide a lifeline to the long-term
unemployed and their families during the deepest and longest economic
downturn since the 1930s. Less understood but equally crucial, the UI
benefit extensions boost spending in the economy and thereby create
jobs. We find that continuing the extensions through 2013 would generate
spending that would support 400,000 jobs. If this program is
discontinued, the economy will lose these jobs.”

ABOUT THE PATRIOTIC MILLIONAIRES

The Patriotic Millionaires
first came together two years ago during the lame duck session of
Congress to urge the President to let the Bush tax cuts expire for
people making more than $1 million per year. Since then, the Patriotic Millionaires have advocated for higher taxes on the wealthy across the country and have generated 100+ million media impressions.

TopWonks.org
is a single source, multimedia directory of over 160 knowledgeable
policy experts committed to inellectual innovation and analytical rigor.

The Top Wonks include:BROOKSLEY BORN former Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, JOSEPH STIGLITZ Professor at Columbia University and former Vice President and Chief Economist for the World Bank, JAMES GALBRAITH former Director of the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress, ANNE SIMPSON Head of Corporate Governance, California Public Employee’s Retirement System (CALPERS), JEFFREY SACHS Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, NOURIEL ROUBINI Founder and Manager of Roubini Global Economics, ROBERT REICH former United States Secretary of Labor, and SIMON JOHNSON former Chief Economist of the IMF among others.

*To learn more about the Top Wonks, visit www.topwonks.org
which features full professional profiles, multiple policy areas, up to
the minute expert tweets on trending major policy issues, over 400 high
resolution videos, over 70 conference and speaking podcasts, published workers, 70 areas of expertise complete with an interactive and fluid filter page, over 800 major news outlet's op-eds and a downloadable e-book.

.

ABOUT THE AGENDA PROJECT

The Agenda Project
is a public policy organization that aims to build a
powerful, intelligent, well-connected political movement capable of
identifying and advancing rational, effective ideas in the public debate
and in so doing ensure our country’s enduring success. The Agenda
Project is responsible for Top Wonks and The Patriotic Millionaires.

28 November 2012

THIS reminds me of the skits Billy Crystal and other cast members of SNL used to do where one would tell about hating it when he did something painful to himself, repeatedly, and then the other would tell about doing something worse to himself and hating it and they would keep one upping each other with more self-inflicted, painful experiences. The gop is doing the same thing, hating loosing elections like this, hating loosing the women and youth and minority votes and then appointing the white men to chair US House committees, alienating women, youth and minority voters. DUH! From the Daily Kos....

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced who will
chair all of the major House committees in the next Congress. And it
turns out they all have something in common besides party affiliation:
they're all white men.
There isn't a single woman or minority included in the mix of 19
House committee chairs announced Tuesday -- a stark reality for a party
desperate to appeal to women and minorities after both groups
overwhelmingly rejected Republicans just weeks ago in the presidential
election. The one female committee chair that House Republicans
currently have, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), is stepping down
because her term is up. While there are still two lower-tier House
committees awaiting a chair assignment -- the Ethics Committee and House
Administration -- neither committee has any women or minority members.
...
"Disappointed to see House committee chairmanships in the 113th
Congress will not include a single woman. -PM," tweeted Sen. Patty
Murray (D-Wash.), who included a link to Boehner's press release
announcing the chair posts.

Remember all the discussions about the Republican Party learning
valuable lessons about the need to reach out and broaden their appeal to
women and minorities? It doesn't look like they are getting off to a
very good start.

I know, I know, the election is over. But this is interesting, especially considering we were up against the money of the 1%. Check this out to see just how we, the people, and President Obama, won....

NDAA is still being debated in the Senate and we have a real chance to get amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act eliminating indefinite detention. It is crucial that your Senators hear from you on this issue this week, so please click the link and send your Senators a message demanding they support the amendments to eliminate or at the least severely restrict indefinite detention...

The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act allows the United States
military to detain civilians indefinitely and without charge or trial --
even American citizens.Help us reverse this travesty of justice by clicking here and emailing your senators.The Senate is taking up the 2013 NDAA this week.
Several senators are poised to put forth amendments to revoke or narrow
the indefinite detention powers that we've been fighting so hard over
the last year.
Demand Progress members have sent hundreds of thousands of emails to
Congress and have helped fund the courageous lawsuit by Chris Hedges et
al -- which recently spurred a federal judge to rule that indefinite
detention is unconstitutional.Because there are several amendments in play, our ask is
broad and simple: Please urge your Senators to support any and all
amendments to revoke or narrow indefinite detention powers.
Earlier this year we helped push an anti-indefinite detention
amendment to the House's version of the NDAA to the brink of passage.
The Senate is friendly turf for us: We have a real chance of winning
this fight.

WITH the election over, the gop and tea-baggers still trying to figure out just what happened on 6 NOV 12 and the fiscal cliff looming it is time for the people to press Pres Obama and Congress because our time is now. We, the people defeated the millionaires and billionaires, the 1% in their attempt to buy the election and move us closer to a plutocracy. We united to defeat citizens united at the the polls, and we must remain united to defeat the 1% in their plans to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security does not contribute to the federal deficit, period. The trust fund is solvent, there is no reason to raise the retirement age or cut benefits. Medicare and Medicaid can be saved by instituting cost saving measures such as adopting the same drug payment policy as the Vets Administration employs. The government has to find the moral backbone to adequately fund these programs we have all contributed to all our working lives, and if it means making the 1%, wall street and the bank-financial cabal to pay their fair share then so be it. Here is a great piece by Sen Bernie Sanders I VT, and if you agree with him the click the link and sign the petition to Congress demanding they hold the line on cutting domestic programs, protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and make the wealthy, the corporations and the bankers step up and pay their fair share like the rest of us do! As I'm sure you are aware, there is currently a major
effort being waged by Wall Street CEOs, Republicans and some Democrats
to do deficit reduction on the backs of the middle class and working
families.

This could mean, among other things, significant cuts to vital programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

President Obama and the Democrats won a decisive victory on Election
Day. The people have spoken and the Democratic Leadership must make it
very clear that they intend to stand with the middle class and working
families of our country, and not the Big Money interests. This means
that in the coming weeks and months the Democrats must hold the line in
demanding that deficit reduction is done in a way that is fair -- and
not on the backs of the elderly, the sick, children and the poor.

As Congress reconvenes and addresses the so-called "fiscal cliff," I
have outlined several ways that we can do deficit reduction without
cutting the programs that working families rely on most:

At a time when the wealthiest people in our country are doing phenomenally well, we must eliminate the Bush tax cuts favoring the top 2 percent.

At a time when corporate profits are soaring, we must end
the absurd tax policy that allows about one-quarter of large, profitable
corporations to pay nothing in federal income taxes.

At a time when the federal treasury is losing over $100 billion
annually because the wealthy and large corporations are stashing their
money in tax havens in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere, we must pass real tax reform that ends this outrage.

At a time when we spend almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defense, we must cut defense spending. There is also waste in other governmental agencies which must be eliminated.

Now, is the time to hold Democrats accountable and ensure
that we do deficit reduction in a way that is fair, while also
protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Let me be
clear. Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit
because it is funded independently by the payroll tax. In fact, the
Social Security Trust Fund today, according to the Social Security
Administration, has a $2.7 trillion surplus and can pay 100 percent of
all benefits owed to every eligible American for the next 21 years. Social Security, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, must be protected.

Poll
after poll shows that the American people want to see deficit reduction
done in a way that is fair. They do not want to see cuts in Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid while millionaires, billionaires and
large corporations continue to receive huge tax breaks.

In my view, if the Republicans continue to play an obstructionist role,
the president should get out of the Oval Office and travel the country.
If he does that, I believe that he will find that there is no state in
the country, including those that are very red, where people believe
that we should give huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires,
while cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Right
now, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. That
means the only way that Republicans can extend tax breaks for the
wealthy and cut vital programs is if Democrats let them.

Sadly, virtually all Republicans and some Democrats are too willing to
do deficit reduction in a way that hurts those who are already hurting.

I look forward to working with President Obama and all members of
Congress to do deficit reduction in a way that finally asks the
wealthiest people in our country to pay their fair share, and that
recognizes the needs of working families.

Despite the fact that
we just won a major electoral victory over Big Money, Wall Street CEOs,
big corporations and the millionaires and billionaires are not giving
up. Defeating them will take a major grass-roots effort with millions of
people getting involved in this fight.

Please, stand with me today.

Thank you,

-Bernie

Senator Bernie Sanders

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